Playing Games
by ROBINROX
Summary: PG for slash. AU. Sora and Riku are going to play Kingdom Hearts themselves! RikuxSora
1. The Beginning

Riku walked briskly to his best friend Sora's house. Sora had just gotten the new game from Japan, Kingdom Hearts, and they were going to play it after they did their homework. Riku was a year older than Sora, but Sora was so smart, he had skipped a grade, and was now in all Riku's classes, so they had all the same homework. Sora usually did all the work while Riku got the snacks and prepared them for the video games they would be participating in after their work was finished, but today, Riku had promised himself that he would help Sora with the work so they could get to the game faster. Ringing the doorbell, Riku waited for a few seconds before he heard fast footsteps across the wooden floor of Sora's house. The door flew open to reveal Sora's older sister Kairi. She sighed.

"I was really expecting Sion." She said to Riku, who shrugged. Sion was Kairi's boyfriend and a major nuisance to Riku and Sora.

"I'm sure he'll get here soon. In the meantime, your make-up is smudged." Kairi gasped and ran to the bathroom to fix her make-up. Sora walked up to Riku, smiling and waving the game case in front of Riku's face. It was still wrapped in its protective plastic packaging, Riku noticed happily.

"I wanted to wait for you." Sora said, making Riku blush a little. Riku was aware that his feelings for Sora went further than friendship and brotherly love, but hadn't told anyone, not even Sora himself.

"C'mon. I'm gonna help you this time, so we can get to Kingdom Hearts faster!" Riku said, grabbing his fourteen-year-old best friend's wrist and pulling him up the stairs to his room.

"Erg...Too much math...I feel like I'm gonna pass out...My brain hurts..." Riku said, collapsing backwards on Sora's bed. Sora giggled and reached across the bed, pulling Riku up.

"We're done. Go get the snacks, I'll get the PS2 set up. We'll open it together." Riku nodded and ran out of Sora's room and down to the kitchen, which was stocked with lots of sugary snacks just for the boys when they got home from school. Sora's mom noticed Riku opening the pantry doors and smiled.

"All your homework is finished, right Riku?" Riku smiled and nodded, loading his arms with Oreos, Vanilla Wafers, sodas, and all sorts of other snacks.

"Yup! Me and Sora are gonna play Kingdom Hearts till I have to go home." Sora's mother nodded.

"That reminds me Riku, your parents called and said they would be late getting home from Paris, so you have to stay the night here, since Selphie is leaving on her own vacation." Riku's parents were rich and went to many exotic places, leaving Riku in the care of the maid, Selphie, and Sora's parents. Riku didn't really mind, it wasn't as if they neglected him or anything, when they were home, they made a point of spending as much time with Riku as possible.

"Cool! I guess I'd better take up a little more than usual, huh?" Riku loaded his arms with a little more food and started on his way back up the stairs. Sora came down to help him about half way up the stairs.

"Hey, I'm spending the night here, my parents are going to be late home and Selphie's leaving on her own vacation. Isn't that cool?" Sora grinned and nodded.

"I was wondering why you got so much more than usual." Riku laughed. Once they got into the room, (with a minimal amount of spillage) they wasted no time in tearing open the plastic wrapping on the game case and getting out the game.

"It's one player, so we can take turns, okay?" Riku nodded and opened the disk drive of the PS2 while Sora turned on the TV, closed the door, and shut the blinds. The two quickly grabbed the controller and sat on the bed, staring at the screen. After going through the credits, the two started a new game. Riku grabbed a root beer for himself, and Sora got a Dr. Pepper, smiling as the opening scene started.

"Woah...Sora, that guy looks a lot like you!" Sora nodded. The boy floating on the screen had the exact same gravity-defying brown hair that Sora did, and the same crown pendent around his neck. Sora grabbed his. He hadn't taken it off in the nine years since he had gotten it from Riku on his fifth birthday. When they boy's eyes snapped open, they were the same icy blue that Sora's were.

"Creepy." Sora said, smiling. Riku grinned back and nodded. The next person that came on the screen looked surprisingly like him. There was the long silvery-white hair, the strange gloves that stopped at the start of his wrist, the hauntingly beautiful green eyes. As the two were plunged into the sea and thrown apart by current, Riku looked at Sora. He was completely enthralled by the game, blue eyes wide and shining. Riku smiled.

"Hey, Riku, is it just me, or does that girl sort of remind you of Kairi?" Sora said, pointing at the screen. Riku redirected his attention at the TV and nodded. The girl Sora was talking about had short red hair and warm, chocolate brown eyes that reminded one of a puppy dog. The rest of the opening scene was just as cool, especially the part with the doves. Riku was watching Sora out of the corner of his eye the entire time and saw that he especially liked that part.

"Okay, we'll play this part of the game together." Sora said. "Even though I have the controller for now, if we need to make any decisions, we make them together. 'Kay?" Riku nodded and Sora started to play. When it got to the part where they had to choose which weapon to use, they both agreed: "WE WANT THE SWORD!" Laughing, Sora jumped on the pedestal with the sword and impatiently pressed the 'X' button when it asked him if he was sure that he wanted the sword.

"What are we going to give up?" Sora asked, and Riku immediately answered, "THE MAGIC STICK!" Sora laughed again and jumped on the pedestal with the magic staff on it, once again pressing 'X' impatiently when it asked him if he was sure that he wanted to give up the staff. The rest of the beginning was just a tutorial on how the game worked, but at the end, there was a bigger battle. Riku took over then, and beat the shadow's butt. Riku and Sora cheered, high-fiving each other and clinking soda cans.

"Awesome!" Sora said, grinning. Suddenly, the doorbell rang and Sora and Riku ran to get it. They flung open the door, coming face-to-face with-

"Sion. What a pleasant surprise." Riku said sarcastically. Sion sneered and stepped inside, pushing Sora out of his way and into a wall. Riku growled.

"Don't push Sora." He snarled, balling his hands into fists. Sion laughed.

"And what are you gonna do about it?" Riku glared and punched Sion in the stomache, making him double over in pain. Kairi walked in and gasped.

"Sion! What happened? Did one of the pests hurt you?" Riku smirked and walked over to Sora, who was rubbing the back of his head.

"Y-Yes! Oh, Kai, it was awful! I was just trying to be nice, and they ganged up on me! Sora pushed me into a wall and Riku punched me in the stomache!" Sion faked, grinning when Kairi turned to glare at Riku and Sora. Riku matched the glare.

"Sora did not push Sion, Sion pushed Sora! And I did punch him in the stomache, but only cause he pushed Sora into the wall!" Sora nodded.

"He was just defending me, sis, I promise." Kairi sighed and looked at Sion, who pouted.

"C'mon, Si, let's go." Kairi took Sion's arm and led him out of the house, casting one last glare back at Sora and Riku. Riku just stuck out his tongue.

"Nyeh. I never liked him. I can't believe Kairi does." Sora said, starting back up the steps. He stumbled, and Riku caught him. Sora smiled. "Thanks Riku. For protecting me." Riku smiled back.

"I'll always protect you, Sora."

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Don't sue. I won't have enough money for you to take.

No flames, please, this is my first try at a Riku/Sora slashfic.


	2. Beating Riku

"Now, Sora run! Now attack! Now dodge! ATTACK!" Riku was backseat playing for Sora, and it drove him nuts. They had been playing for an hour now, and had decided that they would have some fun and try to beat the character on the game known as Riku at a fencing match. It turned out to be harder than it looked. Sora glared at the screen and pressed the start button to pause the game. He turned to Riku, his icy blue eyes alight with anger.

"I know what to do, Riku, thank-you-very-much, and don't need you to backseat play for me!" he yelled, making Riku flinch.

"Sorry." He muttered, looking at his feet. There were empty soda cans strewn about the floor and cookie crumbs littered the room. Sora sighed and smiled, trying to make Riku feel better.

"Sorry, but sometimes your backseat playing can get quite annoying." Riku looked up and grinned back at Sora, then looked around the room and grimaced. It was a complete mess.

"Um...Think we should clean up so your mom doesn't get angry at us?" Sora shrugged.

"I guess, but we're just gonna get it messy again." Riku laughed.

"Well, let's try to be more neat, then, so your mom won't ban us from electronics." Sora gasped and pretended to die. He twitched on the floor, tongue lolling out of mouth, eyes crossing. Riku stopped laughing and started to look concerned. "Sora?" he asked, concern lacing his voice. What if Sora had died? What if he had a stroke, or a seizure, or-Sora sat up and smiled at Riku.

"Gotcha!" Riku let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding and glared at Sora, who was laughing his butt off at Riku.

"Sora that wasn't funny. I was really worried about you!" Sora smiled at Riku and stood, pulling Riku off his bed.

"Oh c'mon, you can't worry that much! It's not like you LIKE me or anything!" Riku froze. Did Sora know? No, he was still smiling. He was just joking. So Riku laughed it off and shook his head.

"No, if I liked anyone, it would probably be that new girl in Chem class, Aerith. She's cute, huh?" Riku thought he saw a glimmer of disappointment in Sora's eyes, but dismissed the thought and kept up the façade of liking Aerith. She wasn't all that bad, she WAS really pretty, and smart to boot, but she wasn't Sora.

"Yeah, she is. Not as cute as Yuffie, though, huh? Didn't Squall ask her out on Monday?" Riku nodded, grinning.

"And she said yes! Imagine that. Yuffie and Squall. If Cloud and Aerith aren't the cutest couple in the yearbook, they definitely will be. I mean, he gave her Griever! He has to be serious about her." Sora nodded, and suddenly grew wide-eyed. "What is it?"  
"I feel so much like my mom right now...She always gossips about things going on in her work." Riku shuddered.

"Ew. Let's not talk anymore unless it's about the game." Sora nodded and the two got up to look for cleaning supplies. While they were cleaning, Sora began humming a song. Riku recognized the tune, so sang along to it. Sora stopped humming at stared at Riku.

"What? Am I really that bad?" Riku asked, smiling. Sora shook his head.

"No, no, you're actually really good...Sing some more." Riku nodded, and racked his brain for a song they both knew.

"_I cannot take this anymore_

_Saying everything I said before_

_All these words they make no sense_

_I found bliss in ignorance_

_Less I hear the more you say_

_You'll find that out anyway!"_ Sora shook his head and Riku raised an eyebrow.

"No, not that, it's too rough. Something sweet, and haunting...Like Evanescence. Missing. Try Missing." Riku shrugged but nodded.

"_Please please forgive me_

_But I won't be home again_

_Maybe some day you'll have woke up_

_And barely conscious you'll say to no one_

_Isn't something missing?_

_You won't cry for my absence I know_

_You forgot me long ago_

_Am I that unimportant?_

_Am I so insignificant?_

_Isn't something missing?_

_Isn't someone missing me?"_ Sora nodded and smiled.

"I love that song. Every time I hear it, it reminds me of you're eyes, how haunting they are, like I've seen them before I knew you." Riku blushed and kept his head down. "Keep singing, Riku, I love your voice!" Riku smiled and picked up where he left off.

"_Even though I'm the sacrifice_

_You won't try for me not now_

_Though I'd die to know you love me_

_I'm all alone_

_Isn't someone missing me?_

_Please please forgive me_

_But I won't be home again_

_I know what you do to yourself_

_Shudder deep and cry out_

_Isn't something missing?_

_Isn't someone missing me?" _Riku stopped, and Sora protested with a moan.

"No, Riku, keep going, it was so beautiful! You really have a talent for singing." Riku smiled and began singing again, trying to be extra depressing.

"_Even though I'm the sacrifice_

_You won't try for me not now_

_Though I'd die to know you love me_

_I'm all alone_

_Isn't someone missing me?_

_And if I bleed_

_I'll bleed knowing you don't care_

_And if I sleep just to dram of you_

_I'll wake without you there_

_Isn't something missing?_

_Isn't something_

_Even though I'm the sacrifice_

_You won't try for me not now_

_Though I'd die to know you love me_

_I'm all alone_

_Isn't something missing?_

_Isn't someone missing me?"_ Sora sighed.

"Man, I love that song...Almost always makes me cry..." Riku raised an eyebrow and continued to vacuum up the crumbs on the floor.

"Well, Sora-boy, you're the only one who will EVER hear me sing out of church. I hate my voice." Sora's jaw dropped and he stared at Riku.

"No! Really? I think it's amazing. Well, c'mon, let's finish this so we can try to beat Riku again!" The two grinned at each other and continued to clean. They finished in about half an hour, and while they were putting the cleaning implements away, Sion and Kairi came back. Riku glared at Sion, who merely glared back and kissed Kairi goodbye. Kairi smiled at the two and ruffled Sora's hair as she passed them.

"Have a good time, Kairi?" Riku asked politely. Kairi nodded vigorously.

"God, yes! Sion is so much fun to be around! And he's a real gentleman. Never says anything mean or rude in any way." Riku looked at Sora and rolled his eyes, making Sora smile.

"Well, I'm glad that you had fun, sis. By the way, Riku's staying over for the night." Sora said, grinning. Kairi smiled back and shrugged.

"That's okay. Nothing can ruin my mood!" Kairi skipped up the stairs happily.

"Even finding out that we "accidentally" melted her favorite lipstick while we were cleaning?" Riku whispered to Sora, who giggled. Suddenly, there was an outraged scream from upstairs. The boys looked at each other.

"Your room?" Riku asked. Sora nodded.

"My room." The duo ran up the stairs and into Sora's room, locking the door before Kairi could even get to them.

"YES! We did it!" Sora screamed, pumping his fist in the air. He had finally beaten Riku at their little friendly fencing competition. Sora threw his arms around Riku and Riku's eyes widened. Then, he smiled, and hugged Sora back.

"Congrats! And I didn't even backseat play! You're good at this." Sora pulled away from the hug, hope and pride making his eyes shine.

"Really? You think so?" Riku nodded, and Sora hugged him again.

A/N: I REALLY didn't mean to add in that Evanescence song. It just...happened. I was listening to Evanescence, then thought about whistle while you work, and...Yeah. This happened.


	3. Leaving Destiny Behind

Chapter 3: Leaving Destiny Behind

Riku stared at Sora as he played, smiling. Sora turned to him and offered him the controller.

"It's your turn to play!" He said, smiling. Riku took the controller with a smile and took a deep breath. He attacked the black things that kept popping up around him, running toward the secret place. He saw game Sora grab at the game Kairi and looked at Sora. He was enthralled by what was happening, staring raptly at the TV screen. Turning back to the screen, Riku ran out of the secret place and battled the big distorted Sora-shadow once again. When game Sora was sucked into the dark vortex OF DOOM!, as Sora aptly named it, Riku leaned back. He expected his head to hit the bed, or the floor, or something that wasn't Sora's lap. He immediately sat up, embarrassed.

"Hey, c'mon, we used to do that before, right? Why not now?" Sora sounded disappointed, so Riku leaned back again, handing Sora the controller. Once again, his head was in Sora lap, and he was looking up at Sora's face/chin. Sighing, Riku closed his eyes and gradually, he fell asleep.

Riku woke up, blinked, and sat up immediately. He had fallen asleep with his head on Sora's lap. And Sora had fallen asleep too. The game was still on, and so were the lights, but there was a blanket on top of Riku's legs. Riku gently shook Sora to wake him and sighed when he didn't wake.

"SORA!" Riku screamed. Sora's eyes snapped open and he glared at Riku.

"Dang, Riku, bust my eardrums...Geez!" Riku laughed, then looked at Sora seriously.

"Um, Sora, why did you let me fall asleep with my head in your lap? And why are the game and the lights still on?" Sora smiled.

"I didn't want to wake you or anything, and I knew that me moving would, since you're such a light sleeper. So I turned down the game's volume and paused it, and got my covers off my bed to cover us." Riku smiled at Sora.

"Thanks. It was really comfortable there. So, shall we get back to the game?" Sora nodded and unpaused the game. After watching a little cut scene where Goofy and Donald and Pluto leave for Traverse Town, where Pluto finds game Sora in an alley, Sora ran around, looking for things to do. He eventually went into a shop and talked to the owner, confused. Game Sora told the owner, who later revealed himself to be Cid, that he was searching for his two friends. Cid said he hadn't seen them, but would look. Game Sora looked throughout Traverse Town, eventually coming across the dark creatures with the yellow glowing eyes. _Why does this feel so familiar?_ Sora asked as he passed the controller to Riku. Just then, the phone rang. It stopped for a second, then Kairi called up, "RIKU! It's for you!" Riku paused the game and he and Sora ran down the stairs and Riku grabbed the phone.

"Hello? Oh, hi mom! You're home? What?" he paused, a horrified expression on his face. "No...Of course, I'll be there as soon as possible. Uh huh. Bye." Riku hung up, and Sora poked his shoulder.

"What was that about?" he asked, looking worried. Riku's family were like his own family, if anything had happened to one of them...

"My dad...He had a heart attack. Mom is at the hospital with him right now. It's doubtful he'll live." Sora's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. Say thanks to your mom for me." Sora grabbed Riku's arm just as he turned to the door.

"Mom can drive you." Riku smiled thankfully at Sora, nodding.

At the hospital, Riku's father was on life support. Riku was in tears, his mother crying openly into his shoulder. Sora and his mother watched from a corner, wide eyed, mouths slightly agape.

"How could this happen? He was always such a healthy man...I knew him in high school, he always exercised, and he always ate right." Sora's mother said, beginning to tear up. Sora's eyes watered as well, and he hugged his mother, burying his face in her stomache.

"He was like my father...I've known him as long as I've known Riku, and he was always nice to me..." Riku looked up, tears spilling quietly over his eyes.

"Would you guys leave for a few minutes? Me and mom would like to be alone with him." Sora's mother nodded vigorously, wiping her eyes. She and her son left quickly, leaving Riku and his mother to say their parting words to Riku's father.

"Man, Riku, what a blow..." Sora said over the phone. The doctors had decided to take his father off life support. He would die within a few days. Riku just sniffed and wiped his eyes.

"Why him?" he said suddenly, picking up a picture of his father taken in Paris. He had looked completely well, not a hair out of place, not an inch of flabby fat anywhere on his body.

"I don't know, Riku, but I'm really sorry. He was like a father to me, you know. Since my dad walked out on us when I was little..." When Sora was just a day over the age of one, his father walked out on the family, so Sora didn't remember anything about him. At about that time, Sora's mother began to reach out to her high school friends for support, since Sora's father had been her high school sweetheart. That's how Sora and Riku met.

"Yeah. I know, Sora, I just want to be left alone, all right? For now." Sora made a sound that sounded like an 'okay' and the dial tone sounded, signaling that he had hung up. Riku sighed and slowly set the phone on the receiver. He looked at his mom and blinked back tears. He was the man of the house now. He had to take care of her.

"Hey, Riku, if you're not too busy with your mom, wanna come over and play Kingdom Hearts? I haven't played a bit since..." it was almost two months after Riku's father's funeral, and that was the last time Sora and Riku had played Kingdom Hearts together.

"My dad died two months ago, Sora, I wanna be there for her." Riku said, going through the things in his attic.

"I know, but it just...It feels like you're ignoring me for her." Sora mumbled, looking at a black chain with a black crown attached to it. It was old, but still very beautiful. Riku turned to Sora, disbelieving.

"Sora, what part of 'My dad died two months ago' don't you get? Of course I'm going to ignore you, my mom needs me more than you do at this point." Sora bit his lip and tears welled in his eyes.

"I know, Riku, geez! I just wanted to have some fun!" Riku threw a music box against the wall, he was so angry.

"I CAN'T HAVE FUN ANYMORE! I have to be mature! Sora just...just go home! And don't expect me to call." Riku said coldly, grabbing the black chain from him. Sora stared a Riku for a second, then slowly turned and walked out of the attic. As Sora disappeared from his view, Riku fell to his knees, crying.

"Oh, God, what have I done?"

Sorry for the chapter delay, but I had writers block, and then I got grounded, and junk. But I'm working on chapter number four, so expect it real soon! I have not given up on this story! And it will get back to them playing Kingdom Hearts by at least the end of chapter six, probably sooner.


End file.
